DENVER – Chris Coghlan and Mike Olt hit consecutive solo homers in the third inning, Dexter Fowler had two triples and the Chicago Cubs ended the Colorado Rockies’ bid for their best start in team history with a 9-5 win on Saturday night.
The Rockies were attempting to improve to 5-0 for the first time. This is the fifth occasion they have won four of their first five.
Starlin Castro also added a solo shot for the Cubs, who entered without a home run this season. Chicago was limited to three runs through the opening three games, but finally erupted at hitter-friendly Coors Field. The Cubs had 12 hits Saturday, which was as many as they had coming in.
Jason Hammel (1-0) allowed three runs and eight hits in six innings against his former team. He also had two singles.
Kyle Kendrick (1-1) surrendered a career-high eight runs in five innings. That was quite a contrast from the opener, when he pitched seven shutout innings.
Olt left in the ninth after being hit on the right wrist by reliever Adam Ottavino.
Fowler had two triples in a game for the fourth time, the first since Aug. 29, 2010, at Coors Field, when he was with the Rockies. He also walked twice and drove in two runs.
Hammel is accustomed to pitching in this environment, compiling a 4.95 ERA in 49 appearances at Coors Field with the Rockies from 2009-11. His only mistake was grooving a fastball in the second inning to Nolan Arenado, who hit it into the left-field seats for a two-run homer.
Corey Dickerson added a two-run single in the eighth to make it 9-5. Colorado had runners on first and second with two outs, but Pedro Strop struck out pinch-hitter Wilin Rosario, who hit a go-ahead homer in the 10th last Wednesday in Milwaukee.
For a fourth consecutive game, Cubs manager Joe Maddon batted his starting pitcher eighth. Before Maddon came along, the Cubs said they batted the pitcher outside of ninth in the order once – on Sept. 8, 2012 – in 15,848 games from 1914 to last season.
Left-handed pitcher Jorge De La Rosa (sore groin) will not make his season debut next week in San Francisco even after an encouraging bullpen session Saturday. Instead, De La Rosa will throw at Triple-A Albuquerque on Tuesday.
“We’re not concerned,” manager Walt Weiss said. “This gives him a little more time to feel confident mentally about the groin.”
